Yeah, 2,000 IU will keep just you from getting rickets. I've also seen a Science Daily article that vitamin D levels correlated with maintaining muscle as adults age. This is independent of exercise. Low levels of vit D linked to ...

Treatment with vitamin D reduced the size of uterine fibroids in laboratory rats predisposed to developing the benign tumors, reported researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Uterine fibroids are the most common noncancerous tumors in women of childbearing age. Fibroids grow within and around the wall of the uterus. Thirty percent of women 25 to 44 years of age report fibroid-related symptoms, such as lower back pain, heavy vaginal bleeding or painful menstrual periods. Uterine fibroids also are associated with infertility and such pregnancy complications as miscarriage or preterm labor. Other than surgical removal of the uterus, there are few treatment options for women experiencing severe fibroid-related symptoms...

"The study results provide a promising new lead in the search for a non-surgical treatment for fibroids that doesn't affect fertility,"...

The tight junction (also referred to as a zonula occludens) is a site where the membranes of two cells come very close together. In fact, the outer leaflets of the membranes of the contacting cells appear to be fused. Tight junctions, as their name implies, act as a barrier so that materials cannot pass between two interacting cells. The protein components of the tight junction are arranged like beads on a string that span the adjacent membranes of each tight junction.

Tight junctions often occur in a belt completely encircling the cell. In a sheet of such cells, material cannot pass from one side of the sheet to the other by squeezing between cells. Instead, it must go through a cell, and hence the cell can regulate its passage. Such an arrangement is found in the gut, to regulate absorption of digested nutrients.

A model of a tight junction. It is thought that the strands that hold adjacent plasma membranes together are formed by continuous strands of transmembrane junctional proteins across the intercellular space, creating a seal. A model of a tight junction. It is thought that the strands that hold adjacent plasma membranes together are formed by continuous strands of transmembrane junctional proteins across the intercellular space, creating a seal.

This study suggests that too much vitamin D is also associated with increased mortality. "...there is no scientific evidence for a 'more is better' argument for vitamin D, and our study does not support the argument either"

"We have had access to blood tests from a quarter of a million Copenhageners. We found higher mortality in people with a low level of vitamin D in their blood, but to our surprise, we also found it in people with a high level of vitamin D. We can draw a graph showing that perhaps it is harmful with too little and too much vitamin D," explains Darshana Durup, PhD student.

If the blood contains less than 10 nanomol (nmol) of vitamin per liter of serum, mortality is 2.31 times higher. However, if the blood contains more than 140 nmol of vitamin per liter of serum, mortality is higher by a factor of 1.42. Both values are compared to 50 nmol of vitamin per liter of serum, where the scientists see the lowest mortality rate.

...The people who participated had approached their own general practitioners for a variety of reasons and had had the vitamin D level in their bloodstream measured in that context. This means that while the study can show a possible association between mortality and a high level of vitamin D, we cannot as yet explain the higher risk...

New research from Children of the 90s published today shows that participants who had good levels of vitamin D when they were children were less likely to have what are known as non-clinical psychotic experiences when they were older.

Non-clinical psychotic experiences can affect a person’s mind and change the way they think, feel and behave. They may be unable to tell the difference between reality and imagination. They may have hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not there) or delusions (believing things that are untrue). They may, for example, think that insects are crawling all over their skin or that their mobile phone is a mind-control device.

What our researchers did, was look at the vitamin levels of 3,182 participants and they found that those who had good levels of vitamin D when they were 9 years old, were 5 to 24 per cent less likely to experience non-clinical psychotic symptoms by the age of 12.

About 5 percent of the estimated 25.8 million people in the United States with diabetes have type 1, according to the American Diabetes Association. Although it often starts in childhood, about 60 percent of type 1 diabetes cases occur after age 20.

While previous studies have suggested that vitamin D might play a role in type 1 diabetes, they principally focused on the link between a shortage of the vitamin during pregnancy or childhood and the risk of developing the disease during childhood. Other research, in young adults, found an association between high levels of vitamin D and a lowered risk of multiple sclerosis (an autoimmune disease genetically and epidemiologically related to type 1 diabetes), suggesting that inadequate vitamin D in adulthood may be an important risk factor for autoimmune diseases in general.

“The risk of type 1 diabetes appears to be increased even at vitamin D levels that are commonly regarded as normal, suggesting that a substantial proportion of the population could benefit from increased vitamin D intake,”...

... many cases could be prevented by supplementation with 1,000-4,000 IU/day, which is largely considered safe ...

I was recently told by my Doctor that I have a vitamin D deficiency and she prescribed vitamin D. I have now finished the course. A friend told me that calcium should be taken with Vitamin D so I will continue taking a vitamin supplement that contains both calcium and vitamin D. I have avoided the sun for most of my adult life and this is the probable cause of the deficiency.